If We All Became Atheists?

[We Never Know]

No, there definitely would be lack of belief.

It's a pretty binary thing. Either there is a belief or there is not. There is no "third way" here.

Right now I am thinking about something, it could be anything.
Do you lack belief of that something I am thinking about?

 

[We Never Know]

Anyone who does not believe in any gods is an atheist, regardless of what else is going on in their minds.

You just shot yourself in the foot.
Its not they do not believe in a god(s), its they lack belief in a god(s).

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

You just shot yourself in the foot.
Its not they do not believe in a god(s), its they lack belief in a god(s).

I'm not sure what you're objecting to. Those are two ways of saying the same thing.

 

[Balthazzar]

For some reason you are refusing to take responsibility for your own beliefs. But that is not an issue for me to address.

I understand that facts are facts. But that is all they are. Whatever beliefs you are building them into is YOUR OWN DOING. So take responsibility for that, and wallah! You will magically realize that you are, in fact, in control of those beliefs.

Would this be a processing application of data input and how our biases help shape the way we end up associating the data to our belief systems? It may be a choice, but I do understand the implication that it's difficult to apply this type of self-controlled processing from ourselves. The only way I've ever been able to do this by choice has been to gather more data to make the connections.

 

[ChatwithGod]

If everyone became atheists, societies might shift focus from religious to secular ethics and values. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that hope and plans for a future are essential.

 

[We Never Know]

Based on what research? Can you give me the research so that I could study it?

You first show me they do and we will to from there.

 

[Nakosis]

If everyone became atheists, societies might shift focus from religious to secular ethics and values. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that hope and plans for a future are essential.

Why do you think the values and ethics of atheists differ that greatly from those of theists other than the obvious lack of mentioning a God?

 

[paarsurrey]

"they pretend they don't believe what they believe." "It's sad seeing so many folks fall into this kind of dishonest foolishness. So many that their dishonest nonsense has now been written into the dictionary."

Excellent writing ^. Congratulations!

Regards

 

[ChatwithGod]

Why do you think the values and ethics of atheists differ that greatly from those of theists other than the obvious lack of mentioning a God?

Values and ethics often stem from a blend of personal experiences, cultural influences, and philosophical or religious teachings. For atheists, ethical living might focus more on humanistic principles, guided by reason and the well-being of others. Psalm 34:14 encourages us to "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

 

[Nakosis]

Take your lack of believe.
You were once a believer, changed, and chose to lack belief based off treatment, lack of evidence, and etc.

Without concept you would have never believed or chose to have lack of belief.

Yes, I once held a concept of God. Decided none of those concepts were valid. Let go of them all. So now I no longer have any concept of God. Yes, I am aware of other people's concepts of God, but as for myself, I lack any.

 

[paarsurrey]

If We All Became Atheists?

So the Ahmadi's concept of peace is to convert everyone to Islam and unite the Islamic world.

Only to accept, if one is convinced heart and soul, that is why we Ahmadiyya believe in peaceful dialogue with reasonable arguments, Atheism (et al) are no exception, right, please?

This process will get accomplished in three hundred years from the advent of Second Coming 1835-1908, please, right?

"God Almighty gave the following glad tidings to the Promised Messiah (as). Allah said: "I shall give you a large party of Islam"
As a result of this revelation the Promised Messiah (as) made the grand statement. He said: “If someone were to die and return in two or three Centuries, they would find that the world is filled with Ahmadis like the sea is filled with drops of water.’ (Tasheezul-Azhan Qadian January 1913 page 39)"
https://www.alislam.org/library/articles/Promises-of-Divine-Help-Made-to-the-Promised-Messiah.pdf
Right?

Regards
_______________
page-10

 

[SalixIncendium]

Yes. Did you think we were talking about how babies would refer to themselves?

I thought we were talking about a babies' position on the existence and belief or absence thereof in of God or Gods.

Babies do not have the capacity or understanding of these to make an informed (or uninformed) choice to believe or disbelieve.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Yes, you were off course. Not much else needs to be said about it.

Nope. You were misrepresenting what I said. Just like you did again in this post.

 

[Secret Chief]

An atheist is anyone without such a positive believe, for whatever reason.

It means that atheism is the default. To move away from the default, you need to do something: believe theistic claims.
So not doing that something, means you remain in the default.

The reason why you don't, is irrelevant. Not being convinced, not comprehending the question, whatever.

As I posted earlier on... Encyclopedia Britannica seems to disagree with you:

"atheism, in general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings."

Babies do not engage in critiques, so they are not atheists.

I don't know why this seems to be so complicated.

Me too! Frankly, I find the idea (nothing personal to you or anybody else) of babies being atheists to be laughable and completely ridiculous. If it wasn't for reading it on RF I would never have considered the claim to be made.

 

[Secret Chief]

Update on what baby atheists do: they make conscious decisions to reject ideas based upon specific reasons...

"Instead of saying that an atheist is someone who believes that it is false or probably false that there is a God, a more adequate characterization of atheism consists in the more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be someone who rejects belief in God for the following reasons (which reason is stressed depends on how God is being conceived): for an anthropomorphic God, the atheist rejects belief in God because it is false or probably false that there is a God; for a nonanthropomorphic God (the God of Luther and Calvin, Aquinas, and Maimonides), he rejects belief in God because the concept of such a God is either meaningless, unintelligible, contradictory, incomprehensible, or incoherent; for the God portrayed by some modern or contemporary theologians or philosophers, he rejects belief in God because the concept of God in question is such that it merely masks an atheistic substance; e.g., “God” is just another name for love, or “God” is simply a symbolic term for moral ideals."

- Atheism - Beliefs, Arguments, History | Britannica

(To be clear... a baby gurgling in a pram is not rejecting any metaphysical concepts, no matter how much one talks at them)

 

[firedragon]

You first show me they do and we will to from there.

I already gave you research but you are not interested in going there and reading it. So it's your problem with epistemic humbleness.

But, when you make a claim, it's your burden to provide evidence. What you are doing is a burden of proof fallacy. It's the same fallacy many atheists in this very forum have committed.

 

[Heyo]

Frankly, I find the idea (nothing personal to you or anybody else) of babies being atheists to be laughable and completely ridiculous. If it wasn't for reading it on RF I would never have considered the claim to be made.

Do you find the idea that a baptized baby is now a Christian equally ridiculous?

 

[We Never Know]

I already gave you research but you are not interested in going there and reading it. So it's your problem with epistemic humbleness.

But, when you make a claim, it's your burden to provide evidence. What you are doing is a burden of proof fallacy. It's the same fallacy many atheists in this very forum have committed.

Ah yes Justin Barrett's book about children. However...

"A new study out earlier this year, however, pushes against Barrett's conclusion. Published in the July issue of Cognitive Science, the article presents findings that seem to show that children's beliefs in the supernatural are the result of their education. Further, argue the researchers, "exposure to religious ideas has a powerful impact on children's differentiation between reality and fiction." In other words, said Kathleen Corriveau, one of the study's co-authors, the study found that childhood exposure to religious ideas may influence children's "conception of what could actually happen." She also told me her research suggests that Barrett's Born Believers thesis is wrong — that children don't possess an "innate bias" toward religious belief."

Are kids born with an innate belief in God?

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[Secret Chief]

Do you find the idea that a baptized baby is now a Christian equally ridiculous?

Yes, of course.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I thought we were talking about a babies' position on the existence and belief or absence thereof in of God or Gods.

We were talking about whether babies believe in gods. I wouldn't call this a "position".

Babies do not have the capacity or understanding of these to make an informed (or uninformed) choice to believe or disbelieve.

So therefore they hold no beliefs in any gods, which makes them atheists.